Only God Forgives Sin
Only God forgives sins. Since he is the Son of God, Jesus
says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive
sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven."
Further, by virtue of his divine authority he give this power to men
to exercise in his name.
Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole
Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and
reconciliation that he acquired for us at the price of his blood. But he
entrusted the exercise of the power of absolution to the apostolic
ministry which he charged with the "ministry of reconciliation." The
apostle is sent out "on behalf of Christ" with "God making his appeal"
through him and pleading: "Be reconciled to God."
Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members
of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into
grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded
ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance
offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification.
The Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as "the second
plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace."
-- Catechism of the Catholic Church
paragraphs 1441, 1442, 1446
"Let us fix our eyes on Christ's blood and understand
how precious it is to his Father, for, poured out for our
salvation, it has brought to the whole world the grace
of repentance."
-- St. Clement of Rome, d. 101 A.D.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
15 April 2012: Divine Mercy Sunday
The Church Appeals to the Mercy of God
The Church proclaims the truth of God's mercy revealed in the crucified and risen Christ, and she professes it in various ways. Furthermore, she seeks to practice mercy towards people through people, and she sees in this an indispensable condition for solicitude for a better and "more human" world, today and tomorrow. However, at no time and in no historical period -- especially at moment as critical as our own -- can the Church forget the prayer that is a cry for the mercy of God amid the many forms of evil which weigh upon humanity and threaten it. Precisely this is the fundamental right and duty of the Church in Christ Jesus, her right and duty towards God and towards humanity. The more the human conscience succumbs to secularization, loses its sense of the very meaning of the word "mercy," moves away from God and distances itself from the mystery of mercy, the more the Church has the right and the duty to appeal to the God of mercy "with loud cries." These "loud cries" should be the mark of the Church of our times, cries uttered to God to implore His mercy, the certain manifestation of which she professes and proclaims as having already come in Jesus crucified and risen, that is, in the Paschal Mystery..,,
... In the name of Jesus Christ crucified and risen, in the spirit of His messianic mission, enduring in the history of humanity, we raise our voices and pray that the Love which is in the Father may once again be revealed at this stage of history, and that, through the work of the Son and Holy Spirit, it may be shown to be present in our modern world and to be more powerful than evil: more powerful than sin and death. We pray for this through the intercession of her who does not cease to proclaim "mercy ... from generation to generation," and also through the intercession of those for whom there have been completely fulfilled the words of the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
-- Blessed John Paul II
Dives in Misericordia Encyclical, #15
30 November 1980
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy!
The Church proclaims the truth of God's mercy revealed in the crucified and risen Christ, and she professes it in various ways. Furthermore, she seeks to practice mercy towards people through people, and she sees in this an indispensable condition for solicitude for a better and "more human" world, today and tomorrow. However, at no time and in no historical period -- especially at moment as critical as our own -- can the Church forget the prayer that is a cry for the mercy of God amid the many forms of evil which weigh upon humanity and threaten it. Precisely this is the fundamental right and duty of the Church in Christ Jesus, her right and duty towards God and towards humanity. The more the human conscience succumbs to secularization, loses its sense of the very meaning of the word "mercy," moves away from God and distances itself from the mystery of mercy, the more the Church has the right and the duty to appeal to the God of mercy "with loud cries." These "loud cries" should be the mark of the Church of our times, cries uttered to God to implore His mercy, the certain manifestation of which she professes and proclaims as having already come in Jesus crucified and risen, that is, in the Paschal Mystery..,,
... In the name of Jesus Christ crucified and risen, in the spirit of His messianic mission, enduring in the history of humanity, we raise our voices and pray that the Love which is in the Father may once again be revealed at this stage of history, and that, through the work of the Son and Holy Spirit, it may be shown to be present in our modern world and to be more powerful than evil: more powerful than sin and death. We pray for this through the intercession of her who does not cease to proclaim "mercy ... from generation to generation," and also through the intercession of those for whom there have been completely fulfilled the words of the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
-- Blessed John Paul II
Dives in Misericordia Encyclical, #15
30 November 1980
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
8 April 2012: Easter Sunday
He Is Risen!
"If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain
and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting
God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ (1 Cor 15: 14-15).
With these words Saint Paul explains quite drastically what faith in
the Resurrection of Jesus Christ means for the Christian message
overall: it is its very foundation. The Christian faith stands or falls
with the truth of the testimony that Christ is risen from the dead.
If this were taken away, it would still be possible to piece
together from the Christian tradition a series of interesting ideas
about God and men, about man's being and his obligations, a kind
of religious world view: but the Christian faith itself would be dead.
Jesus would be a failed religious leader, who despite his failure
remains great and can cause us to reflect. But he would then remain
purely human, and his authority would extend only so far as his
message is of interest to us. He would no longer be a criterion; the
only criterion left would be our own judgment in selecting from his
heritage what strikes us as helpful. In other words, we would be alone.
Our own judgment would be the highest instance.
Only if Jesus is risen has anything really new occurred that
changes the world and the situation of mankind. Then he becomes
the criterion on which we can rely. For then God has truly revealed
himself.....
... If we attend to the witnesses with listening hearts and open
ourselves to the signs by which the Lord again and again authenticates
both them and himself, then we know that he is truly risen. He is alive.
Let us entrust ourselves to him, knowing that we are on the right path.
With Thomas let us place our hands into Jesus' pierced side and
confess: "My Lord and my God!" (Jn 20:28).
-- Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)
Jesus of Nazareth, Holy Week
Chapter nine
The Lord has indeed risen, alleluia.
Glory and kingship be his for ever and ever.
"If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain
and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting
God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ (1 Cor 15: 14-15).
With these words Saint Paul explains quite drastically what faith in
the Resurrection of Jesus Christ means for the Christian message
overall: it is its very foundation. The Christian faith stands or falls
with the truth of the testimony that Christ is risen from the dead.
If this were taken away, it would still be possible to piece
together from the Christian tradition a series of interesting ideas
about God and men, about man's being and his obligations, a kind
of religious world view: but the Christian faith itself would be dead.
Jesus would be a failed religious leader, who despite his failure
remains great and can cause us to reflect. But he would then remain
purely human, and his authority would extend only so far as his
message is of interest to us. He would no longer be a criterion; the
only criterion left would be our own judgment in selecting from his
heritage what strikes us as helpful. In other words, we would be alone.
Our own judgment would be the highest instance.
Only if Jesus is risen has anything really new occurred that
changes the world and the situation of mankind. Then he becomes
the criterion on which we can rely. For then God has truly revealed
himself.....
... If we attend to the witnesses with listening hearts and open
ourselves to the signs by which the Lord again and again authenticates
both them and himself, then we know that he is truly risen. He is alive.
Let us entrust ourselves to him, knowing that we are on the right path.
With Thomas let us place our hands into Jesus' pierced side and
confess: "My Lord and my God!" (Jn 20:28).
-- Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)
Jesus of Nazareth, Holy Week
Chapter nine
The Lord has indeed risen, alleluia.
Glory and kingship be his for ever and ever.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
1 April 2012: Palm Sunday
The Right to Religious Liberty
"All men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and his Church, and to embrace it and hold on to it as they come to know it." This duty derives from "the very dignity of the human person."
It does not contradict a "sincere respect" for different religions which frequently "reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men," nor the requirement of charity, which urges Christians "to treat with love, prudence and patience those who are in error or ignorance with regard to the faith."
The duty of offering God genuine worship concerns man both individually and socially. This is "the traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and societies toward the true religion and the one Church of Christ......
"Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, or is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in religious matters in private or in public, alone or in association with others, within due limits." This right is based on the very nature of the human person, whose dignity enables him freely to assent to the divine truth which transcends the temporal order. For this reason it "continues to exist even in those who do not live up to their obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it."
"If because of the circumstances of a particular people special civil recognition is given to one religious community in the constitutional organization of a state, the right of all citizens and religious communities to religious freedom must be recognized and respected as well.
The right to religious liberty is neither a moral license to adhere to error, nor a supposed right to error, but rather a natural right of the human person to civil liberty, i.e., immunity, within just limits, from external constraint in religious matters by political authorities. This natural right ought to be acknowledged in the juridical order of society in such a way that it constitutes a civil right.
-- Catechism of the Catholic Church
paragraphs 2104 - 2108
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. ( 1 Timothy 2: 1-2)
"All men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and his Church, and to embrace it and hold on to it as they come to know it." This duty derives from "the very dignity of the human person."
It does not contradict a "sincere respect" for different religions which frequently "reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men," nor the requirement of charity, which urges Christians "to treat with love, prudence and patience those who are in error or ignorance with regard to the faith."
The duty of offering God genuine worship concerns man both individually and socially. This is "the traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and societies toward the true religion and the one Church of Christ......
"Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, or is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in religious matters in private or in public, alone or in association with others, within due limits." This right is based on the very nature of the human person, whose dignity enables him freely to assent to the divine truth which transcends the temporal order. For this reason it "continues to exist even in those who do not live up to their obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it."
"If because of the circumstances of a particular people special civil recognition is given to one religious community in the constitutional organization of a state, the right of all citizens and religious communities to religious freedom must be recognized and respected as well.
The right to religious liberty is neither a moral license to adhere to error, nor a supposed right to error, but rather a natural right of the human person to civil liberty, i.e., immunity, within just limits, from external constraint in religious matters by political authorities. This natural right ought to be acknowledged in the juridical order of society in such a way that it constitutes a civil right.
-- Catechism of the Catholic Church
paragraphs 2104 - 2108
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. ( 1 Timothy 2: 1-2)
Sunday, March 25, 2012
25 March 2012: Fifth Sunday in Lent
Erroneous Judgment
A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his
conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn
himself. Yet it can happen that moral conscience remains in ignorance
and makes erroneous judgments about acts to be performed or already
committed.
This ignorance can often be imputed to personal responsibility. This
is the case when a man "takes little trouble to find out what is true and good,
or when conscience is by degrees almost blinded through the habit of
committing sin." In such cases, the person is culpable for the evil he
commits.
Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others,
enslavement to one's passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of
conscience, rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of
conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of
judgment in moral conduct.
If -- on the contrary -- this ignorance is invincible, or the moral subject is
not responsible for his erroneous judgment, the evil committed by the person
cannot be imputed to him. It remains no less and evil, a privation, a disorder.
One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience.
A good and pure conscience is enlightened by true faith, for charity
proceeds at the same time "from a pure heart and a good conscience and
sincere faith." "The more a correct conscience prevails, the more do persons
and groups turn aside from blind choice and try to be guided by objective
standards of moral conduct."
-- Catechism of the Catholic Church
paragraphs 1790 - 1794
Create a clean heart in me, O God. (Psalm 51)
This is the fifth part of a series during Lent on conscience, taken from
the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Next week: The right to
religious liberty.
A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his
conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn
himself. Yet it can happen that moral conscience remains in ignorance
and makes erroneous judgments about acts to be performed or already
committed.
This ignorance can often be imputed to personal responsibility. This
is the case when a man "takes little trouble to find out what is true and good,
or when conscience is by degrees almost blinded through the habit of
committing sin." In such cases, the person is culpable for the evil he
commits.
Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others,
enslavement to one's passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of
conscience, rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of
conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of
judgment in moral conduct.
If -- on the contrary -- this ignorance is invincible, or the moral subject is
not responsible for his erroneous judgment, the evil committed by the person
cannot be imputed to him. It remains no less and evil, a privation, a disorder.
One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience.
A good and pure conscience is enlightened by true faith, for charity
proceeds at the same time "from a pure heart and a good conscience and
sincere faith." "The more a correct conscience prevails, the more do persons
and groups turn aside from blind choice and try to be guided by objective
standards of moral conduct."
-- Catechism of the Catholic Church
paragraphs 1790 - 1794
Create a clean heart in me, O God. (Psalm 51)
This is the fifth part of a series during Lent on conscience, taken from
the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Next week: The right to
religious liberty.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
18 March 2012: Fourth Sunday in Lent
To Choose In Accord With Conscience
Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right
judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the
contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.
Man is sometimes confronted by situations that make moral
judgments lass assured and decision difficult. But he must always
seriously seek what is right and good and discern the will of God
expressed in divine law.
To this purpose, man strives to interpret the data of experience
and the signs of the times assisted by the virtue of prudence, by the
advice of competent people, and by the help of the Holy Sprit and
his gifts.
Some rules apply in every case:
-- One may never do evil so that good may result from it;
-- the Golden Rule: "Whatever you wish that men would
do to you, do so to them."
-- charity always proceeds by way of respect for one's
neighbor and his conscience: "Thus sinning against
your brethren and wounding their conscience...you sin
against Christ." Therefore "it is right not to ... do anything
that makes your brother stumble."
-- Catechism of the Catholic Church
paragraphs 1786-1789
"But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works
may be clearly seen as done in God." (John 3: 21)
This is the fourth part of a series during Lent on conscience, taken from
the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Next week: "Erroneous Judgment."
Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right
judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the
contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.
Man is sometimes confronted by situations that make moral
judgments lass assured and decision difficult. But he must always
seriously seek what is right and good and discern the will of God
expressed in divine law.
To this purpose, man strives to interpret the data of experience
and the signs of the times assisted by the virtue of prudence, by the
advice of competent people, and by the help of the Holy Sprit and
his gifts.
Some rules apply in every case:
-- One may never do evil so that good may result from it;
-- the Golden Rule: "Whatever you wish that men would
do to you, do so to them."
-- charity always proceeds by way of respect for one's
neighbor and his conscience: "Thus sinning against
your brethren and wounding their conscience...you sin
against Christ." Therefore "it is right not to ... do anything
that makes your brother stumble."
-- Catechism of the Catholic Church
paragraphs 1786-1789
"But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works
may be clearly seen as done in God." (John 3: 21)
This is the fourth part of a series during Lent on conscience, taken from
the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Next week: "Erroneous Judgment."
Monday, March 5, 2012
11 March 2012: Third Sunday in Lent
The Formation of Conscience
Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened.
A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its
judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed
by the wisdom of the Creator. The education of conscience is
indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences
and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative
teachings.
The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. From the earliest
years, it awakens the child to the knowledge and practice of the interior law
recognized by conscience. Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or
cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings
of complacency, born of human weakness and faults. The education of the
conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.
In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path;
we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must
also examine our conscience before the Lord's Cross. We are assisted by
the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and
guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church.
-- Catechism of the Catholic Church
paragraphs 1783-1785
If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. (Psalm 95)
This is the third part of a series during Lent on conscience, taken from the
Catechism of the Catholic Church. Next week: To Choose in Accord With
Conscience.
Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened.
A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its
judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed
by the wisdom of the Creator. The education of conscience is
indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences
and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative
teachings.
The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. From the earliest
years, it awakens the child to the knowledge and practice of the interior law
recognized by conscience. Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or
cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings
of complacency, born of human weakness and faults. The education of the
conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.
In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path;
we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must
also examine our conscience before the Lord's Cross. We are assisted by
the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and
guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church.
-- Catechism of the Catholic Church
paragraphs 1783-1785
If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. (Psalm 95)
This is the third part of a series during Lent on conscience, taken from the
Catechism of the Catholic Church. Next week: To Choose in Accord With
Conscience.
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